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Thursday, March 20, 2008

How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs and Recipes Using Hard-Boiled Eggs

This easy method will guarantee that your hard-boiled eggs are always perfect!

(Updated March 2008 with many more ideas from bloggers for using hard-boiled eggs.) It's close to Easter, and all over America that means families will be boiling eggs until they are cooked hard and then dying them bright colors to go in Easter baskets. For years I just put eggs in a pan, added some water, and boiled them, often with mixed results. Imagine my surprise when I learned last year there's a right and wrong way to make hard-boiled eggs. If you use the correct method, your eggs will turn out perfectly every time, with firm yellow yolks, and no tinge of green or gray to the yolks.

After I read many, many, many, many, differentopinions about the best method for making perfect boiled eggs, I experimented a bit, and here's my easy method, which gives great results. Don't miss the huge list of interesting ideas from other bloggers for using hard boiled eggs.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT HARD-BOILED EGGS:

Eggs that are too fresh are difficult to peel, so always keep eggs in the refrigerator for a week or two before making boiled eggs.

For best results, take eggs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before cooking.

Put eggs in a pan large enough to hold all the eggs in a single layer, with water to cover eggs by at least an inch.

Bring water to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn off heat and cover eggs. Set timer for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes, drain eggs, and add cold water with a couple of ice cubes. Let eggs cool at least 10 minutes in cold water, then drain and store in refrigerator.

Now, what to do with those hard-boiled eggs that are left over after Easter morning? There really isn't any doubt that deviled eggs are my favorite things to make with boiled eggs, and these are My Favorite Recipes for Deviled eggs.

When I taught school, I'd often boil eggs and keep them in the fridge. Then in the morning, I'd peel two eggs and put them in a baggie with Vege-Sal, to eat on the way to work. (In the car! I know you're shocked! Not the greatest breakfast, but better than no breakfast at all when you're having a busy week.)

Here are lots more ideas for boiled eggs that I've been collecting through the years. (Let us know in the comments if you have another great idea for using boiled eggs.)

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I love egg salad sandwiches. You need really crusty Italian bread, then add a good dollop of mayo, thinly sliced onions and celery for crunch and lots of salt and pepper. Sometimes I take them to work and eat them just on their own with salt and pepper, great instant protein!

I wish I could remember where I learned how to do hard boiled eggs. Might have been in the Joy of Cooking but I'm not at home to look. You're doing it pretty much the way I've done it for a long time except I bring them to a boil, cover and let sit 10 minutes. I did some to bring with us on this plane trip. It's such a joy when they peel cleanly!

Hi kalyn,I was not sure that this was worth it - getting eggs to room temp, waiting so long, etc, but I can say that it works. I am not sure that it is worth it for a couple of hard boiled eggs for breakfast/sandwich (takes far too long compared to boiling - but anyway, I prefer soft boiled for breakfast) but for a mass batch, I would consider this method!

Don't be embarassed about showing your hardboiled egg breakfast in a bag! People out there are skipping breakfast, stopping at McDonalds, or eating those horrible breakfast bars from the grocery store. They need healthful alternatives for breakfast on the go.

Who ever imagined when I wrote about how to make perfect boiled eggs and shared ideas for using boiled eggs in April of 2007 that it would be one of my most popular posts ever? Comments before this one are before I updated the post in 2008 with even more boiled egg ideas.

Hah... isn't it funny how we all have our own "fail-proof" method to hard-boil eggs? Mine is (a) bring to boil in salted water, about 1" depth over top of eggs; (b) once water comes to a full rolling boil, turn off heat and allow to sit 15 minutes; (c) remove and immediately peel under cold running water, or, cool and refrigerate for future use.

For years I couldn't eat eggs, from about age 12 or 14 through about age 27. They did horrible, gassy things to me. And even though I always LOVED eggs, I could only eat maybe 1/2 egg every once in a while... if I ate more than that, I suffered miserably. And just as suddenly it was gone, and I could eat eggs again. Go figure.

And what's wrong with eating an egg in the car on the way to work? I used to bring HB eggs to work for breakfast or lunch, and peel them there. So yummy sprinkled with salt!

Thanks for this post! I saw an episode of "The Secret life of...Easter" on the Food Network and I remember them showing this process...I forgot how long to let the eggs set in the water, so I was going to google it...But before I did, I decided to run through my fave blogs...and then I read this post all about eggs! You saved me so much time! Thanks!

One think I like to do with hard cooked egg is pickle them. But not with red beets like you might think. I take a large jar of pepperoncini and a dozen whole, hard cooked eggs. Mix together and keep in fridge for a couple of days. Yowza! The heat of the spicy peppers and the cool of the egg are just a fantastic combination. Everyone who has tried them has raved about them. If you like spicy, you really should give them a try. One further tip, if your pepperoncini are not juicy enough, you may need to get another jar, just for the liquid.

I'm so happy I found this again. My computer died and I lost all my favorites, one of which was this method of cooking hardboiled eggs. I'd never been able to cook them until I found this site.Thank you for taking all the guessing out of it for me.

I prefer hard boiled egg than the fried ones, but I've never seen or eaten hard boiled eggs like you have here, they look fantastic and sure taste great. Thanks to you now I can have my eggs flavored differently from my the usual plain one. :) This is my first visit to your lovely blog by the way and I'm sure be back to dig more of your posts. Thanks ~Claire

I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, especially in order to jazz up salads. I season mine with sea salt, ground pepper, and... lemon juice! I accidentally drizzled lemon juice on my eggs when I was dressing up a salad, but was pleasantly surprised when I ate them!

Again...I wasn't sure where to post this...I am trying to convert my eggs to organic. There are so many brands out there that is confusing!! I went to my local Sam's club (no Costco) and they have EB eggs for a really good price. I read the package and they seem good but I was wondering what type of eggs you recommend?

Hi Kalyn,I'm glad you thought to post this on your site. I have had no luck boiling eggs since moving back to Utah from Las Vegas. I am learning that baking has to have adjustments for altitude so I thought maybe it affected the eggs. Apparently it does, but yours is the only site I found that had a procedure used in Utah. I have my eggs setting out and can't wait to get them done!

I am such a dunce when it comes to boiling eggs... Wouldn't it make a difference if it's a gas stove vs. electric? With gas, the burner would cool down very fast. My electric stove will keep that water boiling for a long time if I cover a pan and turn it off. Am I supposed to remove the pan from the burner? I am laughing at myself for what is probably a stupid question here, so feel free to laugh along. :-)

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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